The udug (Sumerian: 𒌜), later known in Akkadian as the utukku, were an ambiguous class of demons from ancient Mesopotamian mythology.
They were different from the dingir (Anu-nna-Ki and Igigi) and they were generally malicious, even if a member of demons (Pazuzu) was willing to clash both with other demons and with the gods, even if he is described as a presence hostile to humans.
No visual representations of the udug have yet been identified, but descriptions of it ascribe to it features often given to other ancient Mesopotamian demons: a dark shadow, absence of light surrounding it, poison, and a deafening voice.
Only a few descriptions of the udug are known[1] and, according to Gina Konstantopoulos, no pictorial or visual representations of them have ever been identified.
[1] According to Tally Ornan, however, some Mesopotamian cylinder seals show a figure carrying a scepter alongside the benevolent guard demoness Lama, which may be identified as the udug.
[2] F. A. M. Wiggerman has argued that images of Lama and the udug were frequently used to guard doorways.
[3] In a bilingual incantation written in both Sumerian and Akkadian, the god Asalluḫi describes the "evil udug" to his father Enki:[1] O my father, the evil udug [udug hul], its appearance is malignant and its stature towering, Although it is not a god (dingir) its clamour is great and its radiance [melam] immense, It is dark, its shadow is pitch black and there is no light within its body, It always hides, taking refuge, [it] does not stand proudly, Its claws drip with bile, it leaves poison in its wake, Its belt is not released, his arms enclose, It fills the target of his anger with tears, in all lands, [its] battle cry cannot be restrained.
[1] This description mostly glosses over what the udug actually looks like, instead focusing more on its fearsome supernatural abilities.
[1] All the characteristics ascribed to the "evil udug" here are common features that are frequently attributed to all different kinds of ancient Mesopotamian demons: a dark shadow, absence of light surrounding it, poison, and a deafening voice.
[4] Konstantopoulos notes that "the udug is defined by what it is not: the demon is nameless and formless, even in its early appearances.
"[1] An incantation from the Old Babylonian Period (c. 1830 – c. 1531 BC) defines the udug as "the one who, from the beginning, was not called by name... the one who never appeared with a form."
In Sumerian and Akkadian mythology (and Mesopotamian mythology in general) Hanbi or Hanpa (more commonly known in western text) was the god of evil, god of all evil forces and the father of Pazuzu.
[1] The word originally did not connote whether the demon in question was good or evil.
[5][6] In one of the two Gudea cylinders, King Gudea of Lagash (ruled c. 2144–2124 BCE) asks a goddess to send a "good udug" to protect him and a lama to guide him.
[5][7] Surviving ancient Mesopotamian texts giving instructions for performing exorcisms frequently invoke the "good udug" to provide protection or other aid as the exorcism is being performed.
[15][16] The tradition of Udug Hul incantations spans the entirety of ancient Mesopotamian history;[17] they are among the earliest texts known written in Sumerian in the third millennium BCE, as well as among the last Mesopotamian texts of late antiquity, written in cuneiform with Greek transliterations.
[17] They were also expanded with additions written only in Akkadian with no Sumerian precursors.
[17] The udug-ḫul incantations emphasize the role of the evil udug as the cause of sickness[18] and focus primarily on attempting to drive out the evil udug to cure the illness.
[19] They frequently contain references to Mesopotamian mythology, such as the myth of Inanna's Descent into the Underworld.
A Woman of Valor: Jerusalem Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Joan Goodnick Westenholz.
'Evil from an Ancient Past and the Archaeology of the Beyond: An Analysis of the Movies The Exorcist (1973) and The Evil Dead (1981)', in L. Verderame and A. Garcia-Ventura (eds) Receptions of the Ancient Near East in Popular Culture and Beyond.
Lambert, Wilfred G. (1980), "Kilili", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2022-05-17 Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (2003).
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.
This name is commonly translated as "exterminator" or "obliterating one" due to being most likely derived from the Akkadian verb pašāṭum, "to erase".
[11] Frans Wiggermann argues this likely indicates Lamashtu was also regarded as a lil, as Pazuzu was believed to have power over her.
[16] However, Eric Schmidtchen notes it can be argued that in standardized lists of demons they are divided in three groups, utukku, lil and KAMAD.
[17] The last of them is distinct from the lil and encompasses Lamashtu and related figures like aḫḫazu and labāṣu.